Gannon's Theory Wiki
This wiki was created for the study unit "Developing intercultural competences" in Laurea University of Applied Sciences. The wiki discusses the cross-cultural theory of Martin Gannon. The Theorist: Martin Gannon Gannon's theory was created by Dr. Martin J. Gannon. He is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Management & Organization, Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland. He is also the Director of the Center for Global Business and well known for his work in cross-cultural management and business strategy. In September 2003, Dr. Gannon was appointed a Professor of International Management & Business Strategy at the California State University, San Marcos. Gannon created his theory by closely researching and analyzing several countries, their culture, cultural symbols and allegories and how they reflect the complexity and diversity of those nations. Gannon began work on his theory in 1987. In 1988 he conducted a seminar for MBA and doctoral students at the University of Maryland. The task proved to be very difficult, and only a small number of papers reached a stage where they could be included in the first edition of his book (Understanding Global Cultures: Metaphorical Journeys Through 17 Nations), published in 1994. As indicated above, only 17 chapters describing cultural metaphors for specific nations were in that edition. Through further research, the amount has doubled since then as the latest edition includes 34 countries. (Gannon, 2010) Gannon's Theory Gannon's theory describes unique cultural metaphors that reflect certain characteristics of each nation. Cultural metaphors involve identifying some phenomenon, activity, or institution of a nation’s culture that all or most of its members consider to be very important and with which they identify cognitively and/or emotionally (Gannon, 2011). As such, cultural metaphors include things such as Japanese garden, the Chinese family altar, or American Football. These are reflections of the underlying values of certain nations. (Gannon, 2011) The characteristics of the metaphor then become the basis for describing and understanding the essential features of the society. Cultural metaphors can be used to profile ethnic groups, nations, clusters of nations, and even continents (Gannon, 2010) Gannon claims that metaphors are not just “a device of the poetic imagination”, as most people think. He believes that metaphor is pervasive not only in language, but also in thought and action. It means that everything we experience every day is mostly a matter of metaphor. But we usually can’t notice that, because during the day we act automatically along certain lines. (Gannon, 2011) According to Gannon, cultural metaphors are based partially on the work of cultural anthropologists who emphasize a small number of factors or dimensions such as time and space when comparing one society with another. According to Gannon’s research, each nation has a particular cultural metaphor that reflects the essential features of the society including social stereotypes and culturally embedded images in relation to masculinity and femininity. Gannon associates different cultures with different cultural metaphors and considers it an innovative method for understanding the cultural mindset of a particular nation and comparing it to other nations. In essence, the method involves identifying some phenomenon, activity, or institution of a nation’s culture that all or most of its members consider to be very important and with which they identify cognitively and/or emotionally (Gannon, 2010). The characteristics of the metaphor then become the basis for describing and understanding the essential features of the society. In his theory, Gannon describes a metaphorical journey through 34 nations discovering a kaleidoscope of cultural symbols and allegories that reflects the complexity and diversity of different nations. Gannon believes that understanding these metaphors will help to comprehend in-depth differences among cultures (Gannon, 2010). There are cultural metaphors developed for instance Swedish nation in this study. Sweden, along with the other Scandinavian countries, is reflective of the most extreme type of egalitarianism (Gannon and Pillai, 2010). Gannon claims that the best cultural metaphor that reflects Swedish culture is the stuga - the Swedish summer home. The typical summer home in Sweden is a small wooden house painted a traditional reddish-brown color with white trimming around the door and windows. The facilities are very modest and the furniture inside the house is plain and simple (Gannon and Pillai, 2010). Stugas are located around lakes and in the countryside where Swedes usually spend time alone or with close family members rejuvenating themselves and refreshing their ties to nature. If the family does not have a summer home, it will use the stugas of their friends or ones owned by the company they work for. The following characteristics of the stuga reflect Swedish culture: love of untrammeled nature and tradition; individualism through self-development; and equality. (Gannon, 2010) Discussion Gannon's theory feels rather valid and grounded in reality. While we all belong the same species and are citizen of the same world, it must also be admitted that we are different. Gannon's theory seems to approach this fact from a very realistic viewpoint - our different cultural backgrounds. Our culture has an enormous effect on us all and plays a part in shaping who we are. As it is evident to anyone that cultures differ, often considerably, it is rather logical from Gannon to assume that these building bricks of culture or "cultural metaphors" as he calls them can be used to profile people and nations to some extent. We say to some extent because culture and cultural metaphors are still always only a part of who we are and how we came to be that way. Gannon's theory is definitely very interesting, but it does not and cannot completely and inarguably explain everything that concerns cross-culturality. There probably is not a single theory that could do that. Defining cultural metaphors itself is a very delicate process, as many factors can influence the result. One person can have completely different idea about one nation, than the other person. Even if you consider all the values and smallest details about a nation, there are always some assumptions and prejudices. Gannon explained in one of his book, that words don’t have clear boundaries, so does metaphor. If cultural metaphor is a value that anyone can emotionally or cognitively identify, it means that there are plenty of things one value can represent as everybody understand the same values differently. For example, metaphor about Finnish sauna can be seen differently from other angles. One person can feel the idea of sauna encompasses quality, quietness and piece, another person can feel its relation to persistence, freedom or nature base. That can be the reason why Gannon’s theory cannot be applicable in all cases. References Gannon, M.J. 2011. Cultural Metaphors: Their Use in Management Practice as a Method for Understanding Cultures.Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.9707/2307-0919.1065 Accessed 30 September 2017 Gannon, M. J., and Rajnandini P. 2010. Understanding Global Cultures: Metaphorical Journeys Through 34 Nations, Clusters of Nations, Continents, and Diversity. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. https://books.google.fi/books?id=2Ne5BgAAQBAJ&pg=PT28&lpg=PT28&dq Accessed 1 October 2017. Mukazhanova, K. 2012. A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Leadership Choices: Commonalities and Differences Among Female Leaders in the United States, Kazakhstan and Sweden. https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/12398 Accessed 1 October 2017. Category:Browse